Sonu Nigam is in the news for all things good lately. Not only has he returned to sing a song for Shah Rukh Khan’s Dunki but has also buried his hatchet with T-Series head Bhushan Kumar and have been making songs together since. While 2023 has been a memorable year for Sonu, the singer did have his share of bad memories as well. One of them was when he was reportedly heckled during a concert in Mumbai.
Fans would remember that the son of Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Phaterpekar forcefully tried to click pictures with the singer during a concert and his bodyguards intervened. While the singer escaped the incident unhurt, his mentor Ghulam Mustafa Khan’s son Rabbani Khan, as well as his close associate and bodyguard, were injured and rushed to the hospital.
The singer Sonu Nigam opened up about the incident in an exclusive conversation with News18 Showsha. He said, “Usually people are full of love. The incident that happened with me was because the person who pushed one of my staff who is like my brother could be because that person was a huge fan and he wanted to get close to me and wanted to have a photograph with me.”
“I can only say that the organisers should understand the capacity of the venue and sell only that many tickets. Fans should also understand that causing any kind of unforeseen situation is going to cause harm to them as well as the artist who is performing. I remember I was performing in Australia and I had told the audience that I would be coming towards them only if they behaved well which they did. No one tried to push or touch me. So if you put that kind of faith, you will win the faith of the audience too.”
This is not a lone incident this year where an artist and the fans gathered at the venue made headlines for the wrong reasons. A few months ago, AR Rahman was subjected to criticism after his concert in Chennai was oversold. Fortunately there was no casualities but many concert attendees were upset with the turn of events. The organisers issued an apology.
Last year, due to bad management, Bollywood lost singer KK in Kolkata. The singer, who was performing in an overpacked and low ventilated room, died of a suspected heart attack at age 53. The mismanagement and improper audience behaviour has become a growing concert among artists.
Lyricist Mehboob told News18 that organisers need to be more careful. “I believe organisers are trying to cut corners by overselling the tickets or trying to accommodate more people in a smaller set-up, thereby risking the lives of everyone. There is so much gate crashing which also happens. I feel this should stop. There should be a thorough check and all the safety standards should be met before the authorities issue permissions to the event management team,” he said.
The Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam lyricist also feels that the artist should not be held responsible for any mishaps, “The tragic incident that happened when singer KK passed away, that place was crowded beyond imagination. No artist would want any kind of inconvenience to happen to his fans. I am sure the event management team is generating a good revenue from these live concerts and the least that they can do is to assure basic safety for the audience as well as the artists.”
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